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How to reduce risk in a mask-optional world: CDC鈥檚 top COVID-19 doctor has tips for travelers

Your bags are packed, you鈥檙e ready to go. You鈥檙e standing there, outside your door. And you鈥檙e thinking, 鈥淚f I catch COVID-19 on this trip, I could get seriously ill or die.鈥

You got a fresh N95 respirator for the trip. And you were counting on most of your fellow travelers to cover their noses and mouths too: the driver of your ride-share, the people in the airport, and passengers packed tightly inside the plane.

But this week, a federal judge in Tampa, Florida, issued an order that voided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 mask mandate for those on public transportation. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing the decision at the CDC鈥檚 behest. Until the issue is sorted out in court, most commercial airlines, airports, bus lines and public transit systems have stopped requiring travelers and employees to mask up.

That means you鈥檙e likely to be surrounded by maskless faces.

Now what do you do? Dr. John Brooks, the CDC鈥檚 chief medical officer for the COVID-19 response, has some practical advice.